Junior research scientist in cryospheric materials mechanics

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INRAE presentation

INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment, is a public research organization bringing together 12,000 employees across 272 units in 18 centers across France. As the world’s leading institute specializing in agriculture, food, and the environment, INRAE plays a key role in supporting the necessary transitions to address global challenges.

Faced with population growth, food security challenges, climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss, INRAE is committed to developing scientific solutions and supporting the evolution of agricultural, food, and environmental practices.

INRAE is recruiting researchers by open competition and offering permanent position.

Work environment, missions and activities

You will work at the Institute of Environmental Geosciences (IGE). The IGE is a joint research unit composed of 190 researchers, engineers and technicians conducting research on the climate system, anthropisation of our planet and environmental risks in polar regions, mountain regions and the intertropical zone. Within the IGE, you will join the ECRINS team, which focuses on gravitational risks and the cryosphere in mountainous areas, developing knowledge on the physical and human components of risk (hazards, vulnerabilities, exposure), prevention and management methods, and decision support. Your research will also be made in collaboration with other IGE teams, namely CryoDyn (Dynamics of ice caps and glaciers), and will help to strengthen the IGE's expertise in the field of environmental mechanics.

In the context of climate change, the mountain cryosphere is undergoing rapid and marked changes: changes in the thermal regime of glaciers, an increase in the liquid water content of the snowpack leading to regime shifts in slow deformation processes (creep) and avalanches, destabilisation of rock and glacier faces, formation and drainage of glacial lakes, etc. In order to better anticipate these changes and the associated risks, you will be responsible for conducting and leading research aimed at improving our understanding of the mechanical and physical behaviour of cryospheric materials, taking into account the role of thermo-mechanical couplings, phase transitions and heterogeneities. Your work, mainly experimental, will lead to the characterisation of the rheology of these materials under different stress regimes and external forces, and to appropriate constitutive laws to be developed. By exploiting the possibilities offered by advanced imaging and tomography techniques, you will develop innovative experiments and instrumentation systems, both in the laboratory and in the field, to elucidate multi-physical and multi-scale couplings from the microstructure to the slope scale. Your work will enrich the modelling of instability and gravitational flow processes developed at the IGE.

You will be required to lead and participate in national and international scientific projects, drawing on a network of academic and/or industrial collaborations. Your work will be supported by laboratory equipment (Ecoulement Ouvrages et Risques platform, cold chambers, MECASNOW project, etc.) and field sites managed by the IGE, thereby helping to promote and sustain these facilities. You will be required to work in challenging environments (high mountains, cold environments, etc.). You will also have access to shared equipment (tomographs, etc.) at the Grenoble site, where you will be integrated into the site's structures (Labex TEC21 and Labex OSUG in particular). You will promote your work through publications in leading scientific journals and contribute to the IGE's training and scientific outreach activities. You will participate in the IGE's expertise and public policy support activities in the field of natural hazards. More generally, your work will be part of the AQUA department's research activities and will contribute to achieving the major scientific objectives and priorities set out in its Strategic Plan. You will be a driving force in initiating collaborations with other research units in the department in the field of mechanics.

A driving licence (regular cars) is recommended. 
You will be required to work in challenging environments (high mountains, cold environments, etc.).

Training and skills

The competition is open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent).
A PhD in mechanics or geosciences is recommended.
Knowledge in mechanics (solids, fluids, geomechanics), thermodynamics, characterisation and/or modelling of multi-physical and multi-scale processes is desirable.
Experience in developing and conducting laboratory and/or field experiments, imaging and tomography methods, and/or research related to natural hazards is appreciated.
The following skills are sought: teamwork, writing skills and a proven ability to publish in leading international journals. 
Fluency in English is desirable, as is long-term international experience: successful candidates who do not yet have this experience will be required to spend time abroad at the end of the internship year.

Your future role explained in video

INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from:

- 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.

For international scientists: please visit your guide to facilitate your arrival and stay at INRAE. 

How to apply

1. I download the applicant guide Guide for applicants 2026 pdf - 1.41 MB
2. I write down the profile number CR26-AQUA-1
3. I apply GO